File/printer sharing issues on network with multiple OSes
- by DanZ
My workplace consists of computers running a variety of different operating systems, and I have been running into problems getting some of them to connect to a shared drive and printer over the network. Here is a brief description of the computers involved and the issues I have encountered:
1: Dell desktop, Windows Vista Business--
This is the computer I want the others to connect to. It has a USB printer and eSATA hard drive enclosure that I have set up for sharing, with different accounts for the various users.
2: Fujitsu laptop, Windows XP Tablet edition--
No problems. Can connect to both the shared printer and hard drive.
3: Lenovo laptop, Windows Vista Business 64 bit--
No problems. Can connect to both the shared printer and drive.
4: Apple MacBook, OS 10.4--
Can connect to the shared drive, but not to the shared printer. I am aware that the printer issue is due to a known incompatibility between Vista and OS 10.4 and earlier with regards to Samba. It is not a big problem, however, as this computer can access a network printer.
5: Sony laptop, Windows Vista Home Premium--
Can connect to the shared printer, but not the shared drive. It can see computer 1 and its shared drive on the network, and appears to successfully log in to user accounts. However, if you try to access the shared drive, it says you do not have permission. I have tried both standard and administrator accounts, and none can access the drive from this computer.
6: MacBook Pro, OS 10.5 (there are two of these)--
Can connect to the shared printer, but not the shared drive. They can't see computer 1 on the network. For that matter, they also can't see each other or the older Mac, but can see and access shared folders on the XP machine (computer 2) and can see other PCs in the building. I was able to add the shared printer manually by typing in its network location, but was unable to manually add the shared drive in the same way.
So, what I am looking for is suggestions on how to get computers 5 and 6 to connect to the shared drive. Since they can already connect to the shared printer (which is on the same computer as the shared drive), it seems reasonable that they should be able to access the drive as well.
